Do German Shepherds Like To Swim
Unlike the other dog breeds, German Shepherds werent bred specifically for swimming. But since they are naturally athletic and courageous dogs they certainly have the capability to like water and become strong swimmers. These 7 dog breeds absolutely love the water, but there are of course more water-loving breeds.
Is It Bad If Your German Shepherds Ears Wont Stand
Its not bad if your pups ears cant stand up on their own. Sometimes genetics causes one ear to stand while the other tends to flop over. A German shepherd puppy might even have two floppy ears. However, this doesnt impact your dogs hearing or indicate that anything is wrong with their health.
Floppy ears are very common for a puppy in their teething phase. This phase usually goes on while your pup is between the ages of 16 and 20 weeks old. After that, their ears start to become stronger and begin to perk up.
If you have concerns, make sure to talk with your local veterinarian.
The breeder also might offer some insight. For parents with floppy ears, your German shepherd might inherit them too.
Why Do German Shepherd Puppies Go Ears Up Then Down
It’s common for a pup’s ears to perk up and then droop again within a few weeks. So, don’t let this alarm you. This is a sign that the cartilage and muscles are developing normally.
And this can happen several times during teething when the adult teeth are pushing through.
Although as I mentioned above, some puppies will not experience droopy ears during teething.
In my experience, if the ears perk up once and then droop again, they will come back up. So in this case just relax and wait for your pup to finish teething.
Some uneducated sources say this has to do with their bodies using calcium for bone and teeth development.
This is incorrect information because, in fact, their ears are cartilage and not bone, so calcium is not a factor in upright ears in fact, calcium supplementation can cause serious health issues.
In reality, this up and down see-saw of your puppy’s ears has to do with the development of the Temporalis Muscle, which I’ll get into a little further down, so keep reading.
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Can You Touch German Shepherds Puppys Ears
Id always advise dog owners not to touch their puppys ear. The ears of a puppy are very soft and for health purposes, it is best not to play with them.
Some time ago during my research, I came across a myth that says Touching the ears of a puppy can soften the cartilage making the ears weak and thereby not stand properly.
Does It Matter If Your German Shepherds Ears Never Stand Up Naturally
Not at all!
Its not unhealthy for them to have one ear flopped over and even adds to their fun personality.
And, most of the time, this isnt a problem. You should take your dog to the vet to have them complete a thorough vet exam if youre worried. This gives you some reassurance there arent any underlying issues.
Generally, there is no need for concern and your GSD is still totally healthy.
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To Tape Or Not To Tape
It is important to understand that you should never tape your GSD puppys ears too soon in an effort to make them stand up. Should you decide that you want to give this a try, you should wait until your puppys adult teeth have started to come in.
This is generally within a time frame of 3-5 months. However, we recommend waiting until your puppy has finished teething. This usually occurs at around the age of 6 months. This is not set in stone, so it is important to consult with your veterinarian to confirm that your GSD puppys teething stage has been completed.
Taping a German Shepherd puppys ears up too soon may actually damage them to the point that they will never stand up on their own.
As a puppy, your GSDs ears may seem to a mind of their own sometimes they will be standing straight up, while other times they remain flopped over. This is because, during the teething phase, calcium cycles back and forth between a GSD puppys ears to his teeth which causes this oscillation.
How To Tape German Shepherd Dog Ears Up
Some people recommend taping your German Shepherds ears if their ears are not still up at five months old. In some cases, tapping may work for show line German Shepherds. But it rarely works for working line German Shepherds.
If you want to tape your German Shepherds ears, you must consult with your vet first, and only do the following steps under your vets supervision.
There are several methods to tape your GSD puppys ears.
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Regularly Check For Parasites
You also want to regularly check your dog out for parasites and ear mites. A parasite can negatively affect your dogs development and can also affect his ears.
In addition, tapeworms and roundworms take away the essential nutrients your German Shepherd pup needs, which can ultimately cause poor health and other deficiencies.
An ear mite infection can also cause your dog to itch, which causes them to shake their excessively.
It also causes them to scratch at their ears with their paws, which can damage the cartilage and cause redness and inflammation to your German Shepherds ears.
Why Has My Puppy’s Ears Suddenly Started Drooping
Puppy ears change as they grow. In many cases, ears standing up perfectly before three months will start to droop again when the puppy is teething. This is because nutrients being sent to the ears are now being diverted to the growing teeth.
Usually, after the teething process is done, the ears will stand right up again at around six months.
On the way to fully erect ears, the puppy may go through many very natural stages. What starts with tiny floppy ears in a German Shepherd might evolve into ears that flop to the side.
This may turn into “flying nun” ears, where one ear is down and one looks like it wants to fly away. Flying nun ears are usually followed by the comb-over stage, where they may be flopping over the top of the head. All of this is a normal part of the process of getting perfectly erect ears.
If you are concerned about a puppy having one ear up and one ear down, have your vet check for any trauma or inflammation in that ear, which may cause it to droop. If there is nothing physically wrong with it, check your puppy’s sleeping patterns.
They may always be lying on one side and squashing one ear. You can encourage them to lie on the other side to balance things out.
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What Age Do German Shepherd Puppies Ears Stand Up
Whats not to love about the German Shepherd dog? A typical classic German Shepherd, also known as an Alsatian is characterized by its strong, regal profile, bright eyes and perky, upright ears. However, if youve brought home a German Shepherd puppy, you would have noticed that his ears are droopy and floppy. The ears may stand up at times but fall back again.
Often owners of GSDs are very eager to see their poochs ears stand upright and worry when they see their puppys dropping ears. The often-asked question is, At what age will my German Shepherd puppys ears stand up? or Can I do anything to help?
In this article, we will discuss all that you must know about your German Shepherd pups ears and what you can/not do if his ears are not standing up.
When they are born, German Shepherd puppies have tiny ears that flop onto the side. When the puppy grows older, its ears go up naturally however, sometimes, they dont. The ears of the German Shepherd, like other dogs, are made of cartilage and to hold the weight of the large ears, the cartilage must be strong. As your puppy grows, the cartilage becomes stronger with the right nutrition and your German Shepherd will have straight, pointy ears for life.
Provide Them With The Proper Chew Toys
Chewing helps to strengthen the muscles that surround the ears.
Its natural for your puppy to chew things and you should offer them the appropriate chew toys early on to prevent bad behaviors from developing.
Choose the proper chew toy for a German Shepherd that is durable and the right size for your dogs age and chewing habits.
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Vitamin D For German Shepherd Ears
Unlike vitamin C, vitamin D is a different story. Your pup can produce some of their own vitamin D by basking in the sun, but thats not enough to meet their nutritional requirements.
To help meet their vitamin D requirements, you need to add vitamin D to their foods. Most commercial dog foods nowadays add vitamin D to their formula to ensure that dogs get the required amount of vitamin D that they need.
If you resort to feeding your pup with 100% natural diet foods, you need to add vitamin D to your pups diet since vitamin D deficiency is quite common in German Shepherds that eat home-prepared foods.
Can You Tell If The Ears Are Going To Stand Up Ahead Of Time
Its not really possible to tell if your pups ears will stand up when they are mature until they are at least a few months old, as this time is necessary to allow the firm cartilage in the ears to develop enough to support them. However, pups dont simply go from being floppy eared to having pointed ears overnight, and your pups range of mobility and ability to control the movement of their ears develops over time.
If your pup can prick their ears up or if the tips of them are very mobile by four to five months old, the chances are that their ears are developing normally, and will become pointed at the normal time without any intervention. If your pups ears have not begun to do this by the time they are around eight months old, it might not be going to happen.
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Ear Infections & Parasites:
Ear infections indeed cause a lot of pain for shepherds. It could result in more complicated issues if not treated properly and swiftly.
Doggys that are suffering from one ear problem or another would find it hard to raise their ears to prevent more pain.
In the case of parasites, the parasites would strip the doggy of vital nutrients needed to develop their ears properly.
Other Methods In Making Your Dogs Ear Stand Up
Although many German Shepherd owners use taping to correct their dogs ears, there are many less invasive, but highly effective methods that you should try first. Lets take a look:
Chew Toys
Chewing on safe puppy chew toys is the easiest way you can help your dogs ears to stand up. Not only will chewing help with teething, but it will also help your dog to exercise his jaw, head, and neck muscles, thus making them strong enough to hold the weight of his ears.
Supplements
Many owners believe that supplementing their German Shepherds diet with calcium will help their ears to stand up. However, your dogs ears are made from cartilage, not bone, and calcium doesnt have any effect on the development of the cartilage.
If you want to supplement your pups diet, its much safer to supplement it with Glucosamine which lubricates the joints and supports healthy cartilage. As always, you should first talk with your vet to see if your German Shepherd puppy can benefit from using supplements.
Diet
Feeding your puppy with high-quality dog food is essential for his overall well-being and proper development. Make sure that you are feeding your pup with the highest quality food you can afford, and steer clear from brands that use fillers such as wheat, corn, or soy.
Check For Parasites
So, do routine fecal tests and keep up with deworming treatments to keep intestinal parasites at bay. Furthermore, get your dog tested for heartworms and talk with your vet about a preventative care plan.
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Do All German Shepherds Ears Stand Up
If youve seen them up, theyll stay up. Most breeders and veterinarians will tell you that floppy ears are common while your German Shepherd is teething, which usually ends between 16 and 20 weeks. By then, the cartilage in the ear has become hard and strong enough for the ear to stand permanently.
Physical Damage Or Accidents
Puppies are active and mischievous and can get into plenty of trouble. This includes physical damage or accidents that have the cartilage or muscles in their ears.
If this happens their ears may suffer long-term damage and not stand up naturally on their own.
How to Keep Their Ears Safe
You should only touch their ears in soft pets to protect their growing bodies from damage or harm.
In order to keep their ears safe dont:
- tug
- or twist their ears
Even if youre only playing!
Its possible that rough play between littermates or other dog friends could cause damage or tear the ears. So watch out for a rough play that might lead to ear damage.
And, if your pup has been in an accident that hurt their ears, take them immediately to the vets.
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What Are Some Reasons For Permanently Floppy Ears
Some German Shepherds come from lines that carry genes that lead to floppier ears.
Unfortunately, when genetics is the cause, there is little that owners can do aside from being more conscientious about ear health, which is a more significant concern in floppy-eared dogs.
Many dogs from show lines, in particular, have larger ears that require more cartilage while the dog is growing to help support a more upright position.
In many cases, these dogs will not have ears that stay upright.
Is There Something Wrong With The Puppy
If the ears do not stand up after 5 months, there might be a flaw in the proper growth of the puppy due to insufficient nutrition. A dog needs a proper food diet consisting of nutrients rich with calcium, proteins, and vitamins A, C, and D.
If you are not providing quality food to your dog, then you need to shift to high-quality food with all the required nutrients. You can also take the help of a vet to know about the proper diet of your puppy according to its age.
Apart from the proper nutrition, the floppy ears after 8 months is also an indication of low-standard genetics. People try to solve this issue by tapping but tapping doesnt work if there is an error in the biological makeup of a breed.
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German Shepherd Puppy Ears Timeline
As we mentioned in the introduction here, when your German Shepherd puppy was a newborn, your dogs ears were floppy. All dogs are born with floppy ears, so this is totally normal.
Bt as Sequoyah German Shepherds breeder explains a German Shepherd puppys ears should start to perk up soon after.
In some cases, your puppys ears might start the process of standing up as early as four weeks old! In other cases, it may take as long as four months before you see signs of the alert ears the GSD breed is known for.
Leerburg Dog Training explains that sometimes it can take until after a German Shepherd puppy has finished the teething process for the ears to begin to stand up on their own.
The American Kennel Club expanse that teething can take as long as six months to conclude and requires a lot of your puppys resources to complete.
The critical period to watch and wait for is the period between five months and seven months. If your GSD puppys ears are still flopping over by the age of eight months, it may be too late to assist the ears to stand up straight.
Read on to learn exactly what to do to help your puppys ears grow and stabilize in the upright position.
Is It Bad If German Shepherd Ears Dont Stand Up
Every puppy, even puppies from the same litter, will develop differently. Some dogs may take up to seven months. If their ears do not stand up by the time they are eight to nine months old, they are probably never going to stand up because this is the time when most German Shepherds ears take permanent form.
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Learn About German Shepherd Puppy Ear Structure And Anatomy
As Whole Dog Journal outlines, a dogs ears are comprised of four basic sections: the flap, the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear.
The ear flap is the outermost ear and is often called the pinna . A dog has two pinna one for each ear. Each pinna can work independently of the other, which is part of what gives dogs such keen hearing.
In addition to hearing, your dogs ears also serve to help with balance.
It is a common myth that German Shepherd dogs need to have their ears set or fixed in order to make them stand up, as Central Coast German Shepherds breeder points out.
The reason a German Shepherds ears stand up erect is because of the rim of cartilage that gives structure and shape to each ear.
This is the same reason all German Shepherd puppies are born with their ears down and floppy. The cartilage has not started to form and harden in the ears yet that wont happen until later on in life.
As long as your German Shepherd puppy is eating an appropriate large breed complete and balanced puppy diet and is basically healthy and sound in every other way, there is no need to worry if you dont see the ears standing up at first.
It takes time for the cartilage to form, thicken and then harden into the characteristic erect ear position of the German Shepherd.
This is why you may see your little pups ears stand up straight one minute and flop over the next minute. The ears might pop up as early as four weeks old only to flop back down around four months old.